Francis E. Pipak, Jr., will be featured on a panel discussing the Workers Compensation Litigation update for the Western Pennsylvania Human Resources Association in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Read More
PITTSBURGH, PA- Janet K. Meub, a Senior Associate at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP has been elected to a three year term on the Board of Directors of Focus On Renewal.
Focus On Renewal is a multi service non-profit organization providing hunger services and community based family and emergency support in the Sto-Rox community for more than 40 years. Focus On Renewals mission is to empower the development of spirit, mind and body of individuals so they may live their lives in a dignified and fully human way.
Ms. Meub is a member of the Medical Malpractice Defense, Health Care, Construction Practice Consortium, Professional Liability, Employment and Labor, and Litigation Practice Groups. She has extensive trial experience defending medical, psychiatric, legal and chiropractic malpractice claims in Ohio and Pennsylvania in both state and federal courts.
Ms. Meub was named a “Rising Star” in the field of medical malpractice by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2010 and 2011. Ms. Meub serves on the Attorneys Against Hunger Committee of the Allegheny Bar Foundation. She is also a volunteer for the Neighborhood Legal Services Pro Bono Expungement Project and sits on the Traffic Board for Mt. Lebanon Borough. Read More
PITTSBURGH, PA- Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce the election of its newest partner, Michael D. Lazzara. Mr. Lazzara is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group.
Mr. Lazzara focuses his practice on all phases of intellectual property law including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. He handles such matters as preparing and prosecuting patent, trademark and copyright applications, portfolio development, patentability opinions, patent infringement and validity studies, trademark clearance opinions, and general intellectual property counseling. He has also handled intellectual property due diligence for corporate transactions and has experience preparing license agreements, nondisclosure agreements, joint development agreements, and other intellectual property related agreements.
He has prepared and prosecuted several hundred United States and international patent and trademark applications. His patent practice covers a wide array of technologies including software, telecommunications, information technology systems, Internet-based services and applications, financial data processing, financial products, robotic devices, fluid systems for heavy machinery, color analysis software, video games, disease management software, and medical devices. Mr. Lazzara is a frequent speaker on various patent, trademark, and copyright topics.
“We are very pleased to have a lawyer with the technical background and legal capability of Mike Lazzara join our firm as a Partner,” said Bill Pietragallo.
Prior to joining the law firm, Mr. Lazzara was a partner at a prominent international law firm for 15 years. Before that, he was a graduate of General Electric’s Technical Leadership Program of General Electric’s locomotive business. He received his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and his B.S.E.E., magna cum laude, from Gannon University. Read More
Michael A. Morse will present at the Health Care Compliance Association’s Compliance Institute in Orlando, Florida. He will be speaking on “False Claims Act Developments.” Read More
On March 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a suit by former employee Peggy Young under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k) (“PDA”), sent the issue of whether UPS had a “legitimate, nondiscriminatory, nonpretextual justification” for treating employees differently back to the 4th Circuit. Young claims UPS violated the PDA by improperly denying her light-duty work requested due to a doctor-recommended lifting restriction during her pregnancy. She was not given the same light-duty accommodation as non-pregnant employees with similar limitations. The 4th Circuit found that UPS’ refusal to accommodate was not discrimination, since Young did not prove UPS’ policies were intended to discriminate against pregnant women or resulted in different treatment.
In an opinion authored by Justice Breyer and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan on a 6-3 vote with Justice Alito concurring, the Court agreed that Congress likely did not intend to grant pregnant workers a “most-favored nation” status by requiring employers to accommodate all pregnant employees irrespective of other criteria. The Court also recognized that employers can implement policies that are not intended to harm members of a protected class, even if implementation sometimes harms those members, as long as the employer has a legitimate, nondiscriminatory, nonpretextual reason for doing so.
The Court held that, if an employer presents a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its actions, a worker can reach the jury on the issue of pretext by providing sufficient evidence (1) that the employer’s policies impose a “significant burden” on pregnant workers and (2) that the employer’s reasons are not “sufficiently strong” to justify the burden, but rather – when considered along with the burden imposed – give rise to an inference of intentional discrimination. The Court also explained that a plaintiff can “create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether a significant burden exists by providing evidence that the employer accommodates a large percentage of nonpregnant workers while failing to accommodate a large percentage of pregnant workers.” Read More
Articles in This Issue:
1) The New Markets Tax Credit Program: A Potential Opportunity for the Construction Industry
2) Design Led Construction
3) You Think Indemnity is the Answer? Maybe Not; A National Survey of Anti-Indemnity Acts
4) Company Loses Right to Sue for Failing to Register to Do Business in Pennsylvania
5) Document Everything: How to Ensure a Successful Inefficiency Claim
Related Information:
spring_2015_edition_of_the_construction_legal_edge.pdf Read More
Marc S. Raspanti will present at the NC Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers 2015 Annual Meeting at the Inn at Biltmore in Asheville, NC. Read More
P. Brennan Hart will be moderating the presentation,” Legal Briefing: A Survey of Employment Practices Law and Insurance Practices Bad Faith” in Kansas on March 11, 2015. Phillip R. Earnest and Christopher E. Ballod will present “Survey of the Interplay Between Unfair Insurance Practices Acts and Bad Faith Litigation.”
Presented at:
AIG
17200 West 119th Street
Olathe, KS 66061
Live Simulcast at:
Intercontinental Hotel Kansas City at the Plaza
401 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, Mo 64112
Course registration available here.
AIG location full.
Attend at Live Simulcast location. Read More
